


forgotten this love

by arghmuffin



Series: Zutara February Flash Fics [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Book 2: Earth (Avatar), F/M, The Dai Li (Avatar), does some brainwashing, like two sentences of fluff, lowkey weird vibe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:28:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29253702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arghmuffin/pseuds/arghmuffin
Summary: She’s not Katara, not really. And she’ll keep her whole life forgotten if it means she can still love him.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Zutara February Flash Fics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2148075
Comments: 14
Kudos: 54
Collections: Zutara February Flash Fics





	forgotten this love

**Author's Note:**

> Day 3: Ba Sing Se, Book 2 canon divergence.
> 
> I wrote this because I recently found out my life is a lie and it was a fun idea. I definitely did not read through this thoroughly, and there’s honestly only a small amount of Zutara in here, and sorry this is late, but I hope you enjoy!

/

Shards of earth burn a hole in her right shoulder. 

Her tunic dyes the color of fire lilies. Water splashes on the ground, her concentration broken, and her hands grasp at the sharp pain next to her collarbone. 

Before she can blink, she’s on the ground. Rock manacles clamp down hard on her wrists, her face crashing into the dirt, legs kicking furiously. Green men, stone men with muddy eyes and rough hands stare at her in clear disdain. She spits hard at their faces, and doesn’t regret it when her neck slams down from another stone brace.

She’s not sure where he is. Not until she hears his soft groan of pain, the sound of laughter coming from the men above her. Fear and satisfaction slam against her bruised rib cage, spilling over the ground in the form of red, red red red. 

Even now, she refuses to give in. Her muffles of protest cloud the street below her, four names still clinging to the inside of her mouth; Sokka, Aang, Toph. And the last, his whimpers of pain beside her igniting anger and something like pity in her belly— Zuko.

“Bring her to Lake Laogai,” a hard voice orders. She can’t see much of anything, just the dirty ground, dust particles stinging her dry eyes. A lone tear runs sideways down her cheek. “She could use a little… _remodeling_.”

There’s a quiet, silent moment before something hits the back of her head. A blinding, searing pain registers before her vision blacks. Then she’s falling, the last thing she remembers staring at her from above, their straw hats grinning like teeth in her vision.

(Katara’s not broken quite yet, her heartbeat still slowing inside her chest, something tasting like home on her tongue.)

/

She wakes in a cold, stone room, stone bands clamping her down, stone chair digging into her spine. She’s tired of the earth, longs for some water. Feels it surrounding her and knows she can’t reach it, not with the stone in the way, like always. Absently, through the foggy haze in her head, she wonders why she’s under a lake.

Suddenly, a slab of the wall slides out of the way. Even a short glance at the dimly lit hallway makes her wince from the brightness, her head pounding even harder. A Dai Li agent enters and the wall slides closed before a small, green lamp close to her face flickers on.

“It is time for your reintegration process,” he says, his voice low and void of any emotion. She’s still sifting through her memories, briefly wondering where Zuko is when the lamp starts to circle her. Her stomach churns uncomfortably in anticipation, but the agent’s face reveals nothing.

“The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai.”

And the world shatters, slowly, quietly. Her memories flash in front of her eyes; she is breaking and falling apart, barely getting sewed back together before the process starts all over again.

She can feel the green light, bursting the moment it reaches her head. It rearranges her memories, blurring them out and replacing them in the next breath. Her tongue feels so heavy in her mouth she’s surprised it hasn’t hardened and shattered on the ground by now.

Then, slowly, they spin her life tale in her head, her subconsciousness filling in the blanks. She forgets her brother’s sarcasm, Aang’s loud laugh. _Sugarqueen_ disappears from her memory and she is slowly remodeled into the Dai Li’s fabricated, broken doll, her thin porcelain surface crafted imperfectly, jagged at the edges.

The shadows of the walls eclipse her vision when they leave. Her eyes close shut for a second time, green light still burning into her vision, her mind terrifyingly empty.

Hours later, Katara wakes up with a story stamped on her collarbone and a new name.

/

Life is hard in the Lower Ring, Sapphire learns very quickly. 

Everyone is hungry in some kind of way or another, here. Their stomachs growl and their thin fingers are always searching for a bill, a penny, for any semblance of contentment that only the poor could ever settle for. 

She sells steamed buns on the side of the street, making friendly conversation with her customers. And she doesn't mind all of it, really, especially when she gives a free bun to a little girl passing by. But at the end of the day, it’s hard to be happy with her life when her pocket is only half-full with coins, and her stomach is still aching. 

Today, she's sold out and too tired to cook, so she heads to a small tea shop a little distance away from her apartment. While she’s inside, she picks up some rumors; how the owner has been missing his nephew, and is still searching for him desperately. She frowns and hopes that the man will find him again; the Lower Ring is a dangerous place, especially at night. Everyone knows the Dai Li is the only chance at order and peace. 

Stepping out of the shop with a warm, heavy bag in hand, she walks the short distance to her apartment. This is her favorite place in all of Ba Sing Se, what she spends the whole day looking forward to. Or, more specifically, _who_ she spends the day looking forward to.

"I'm home!" she announces when she flings open the door, and he turns around, smiling. 

"Hey, Saph," he answers, and takes the bag from her hand, kissing her briefly on the cheek. She struggles to contain her smile before giving up and letting it spread slowly across her face. 

"How was your day, Lee?" 

Settling down in the small, cramped kitchen, they eat dinner and talk. Laughter is heard over stories, loud and unabashed. The smell of pork buns fill the apartment, and Sapphire is the most at home she’s ever felt.

She had met Lee when she was eight, after her immigrated Southern Water Tribe parents had been murdered by thugs in a Lower Ring alleyway. They had grown up together, and eventually developed feelings for each other. Now, six years later, they’re still Lee and Sapphire, them against the world, not a single thing having changed. 

“Oh, by the way, you know that tea shop a few streets away?” she asks him, suddenly remembering.

He glances up in curiosity. “Yeah, why?”

“Apparently the owner’s nephew is missing, and he’s still looking for him.” 

He frowns, much like she did when she heard the news. “Well, I hope he gets found.”

When they finally turn in for the night, laying scratchy cots put next to each other, she lets herself breathe for a second. Because through all of the uncertainty, hungry days and empty pockets, she knows this; her love for Lee is the most certain thing she has.

And maybe, _maybe_ she could be satisfied with this life, she falls asleep thinking, their pinkies intertwined. As long as Lee was in it. She thinks she could do anything for him, and surprisingly, the thought doesn’t scare her.

/

Sapphire blinks rapidly. The sun outside the small window in their room shines directly in her eyes, just like every morning, and she groans, rolling out of her cot. Lee is in the bathroom, so she gets changed before making breakfast.

While the jook is stewing, she lets her mind wander. If she had lived a different life… a familiar blank landscape crosses her mind, and she jolts back to reality in surprise, the imprints of a frozen tundra still lingering in her mind. She’s been thinking about the South Pole lately, and she doesn’t know why, she’s never been there before. 

A glance at the pot distracts her from that train of thought. Lee appears and breakfast is eaten quickly, just like every morning. They’ll miss the early rush of customers if they wait longer, so they hurry out the door, leaving lasting kisses and promises of tonight. 

It’s when she's walking to the spot where she keeps her vendor that a boy barrels into her, accompanied by two other figures that move too fast for her to figure out. Knocked over from the force of the attack, her back hits the pavement hard. A strange, almost phantom pain appears in her right shoulder, but she doesn't have time to think about it. 

"Katara!" they yell, and she panics. Something is clearly wrong with them, but she doesn't have any way to defend herself, not without a knife or some other weapon. 

The smaller boy, bald with a blue arrow on his head, lifts his head. He's crying, tears running down his cheeks, dark circles under his eyes, haggard and unkempt. 

"Katara where did you— why are you— we missed you so much—" they splutter over each other, and she takes the moment of hysteria to push them off frantically, much to their confusion. 

"You— you've got the wrong person, I'm not Katara, please leave me alone—” 

They stare at her in confusion and slowly, horror, the dual expressions dawning on their face enough to make Sapphire feel nauseous. 

"You're Katara," the older boy says slowly, and she realizes belatedly that he's Water Tribe and looks just like her. "I know you. You're my _sister,_ I know you, why are you denying—" 

"I'm not her," she swears vehemently in panic, and watches the three of them finally freeze in place, their bodies as stiff as the wood that settles in her stomach. "I don't know who that is, I'm sorry." 

And then she takes off, running into the nearest building, slipping out the backdoor to get out. It takes a few minutes of winding through random streets before she loses them in the busy crowds of Ba Sing Se, ending up in an almost empty alleyway a few streets away. 

Kneeling, she tries to think rationally. Lee, she has to find Lee. He’d know what to do, of course, but she also wants to hug him, intertwine until there’s nothing left but two hearts beating next to each other. He’s always been her safety net, the only person she truly trusts, and right now she needs someone to catch her.

Still trying to regain her breath against the wall, she straightens up and notices a poster right next to her hand, perfect enough to be brand new, wet enough to be just pasted. 

_Missing: Katara of the Southern Water Tribe,_ it says in neat ink strokes, a realistic drawing below. 

Her own face stares back at her. Sapphire touches Katara’s paper cheek, ash on her tongue, bones wracked with a shiver of uncontrollable horror. 

/

**Author's Note:**

> the dai li are zk shippers so true <3
> 
> if i wrote this right, you feel a little weird rn. also i forgot sapphire came from book 3, so let’s just ignore that. thanks for reading!


End file.
